


Pied Piper

by akisun



Series: Nalu story ideas [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Lucy and Natsu are in love, enjoy?, hehe, they just don't know it, what is this lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26722465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akisun/pseuds/akisun
Summary: A story based on the prompt: "The risk that I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math”
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Series: Nalu story ideas [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944844
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Pied Piper

“Hey, Natsu?” The blue cat spoke for the first time since they’d left the guild. It wasn’t that he and Natsu were fighting or anything of the sort. The two have known each other long enough to be able to walk in a comfortable silence. But Happy had a question.

“Yeah Happy?” Natsu replied, turning his head to the side slightly.

“Do you think these people will be nice?” The blue exceed nervously fidgeted with the unusually placed green cloth around his neck. Natsu gave the cat on his shoulder a strange look but kept walking.

“Why wouldn't they be?” The dragon slayer lazily placed his hands in the pockets of his baggy white pants.

“Well” Happy started. “We're going into an unfamiliar part of the Fiore. You haven't even been here to search for igneel because this morning we didn't even know it existed!” Natsu grunted in agreement. He thought that he had gone everywhere in search of his scaley father but it turns out he missed a spot- well, an island to be more exact. One just off the cost of the Alverez empire. And the town that they were headed towards had a weird name: Sidus. Sure it had a nice ring to it, and research in the library showed that it actually existed. (He knew that thanks to the guild's tiny genius; Levy) But still...

“You're right, we should keep an eye out for anything fishy” He concluded.

“Dangit Natsu, now I'm hungry” Happy groaned, patting his stomach. A loud rumble erupted through the air causing the two brotherly companions to stare at each other skeptically.

“Me too” Natsu sheepishly rubbed his stomach as well.

“Then we should probably hurry” Happy responded with a wicked grin. Before Natsu even had a chance to counter, Happy flew off at the speed of a bullet.

“Oi Happy! I’ll get you for that!” Natsu screamed after him. Luckily for them, the town was only a short distance away.

Not even 20 minutes later were Natsu and Happy cheerfully strolling through the costly streets of an odd town. Natsu wasn’t sure if it was odd because of how rich the people looked or how the rich people looked at him. The boy shrugged as he would usually do and continued his careless wandering through the residents.

“Natsu” a pained voice whined from beside him.

“Hah? Happy what’s-” Natsu’s eyes widened in surprise once he saw where the blue cat was pointing. In the display window of a large restaurant was a small steak dish. But the cost of it- Wow… That’s a lot of money.

“Were gonna starve to death!” 

“Aye!” Happy cried. “We’d better hurry and finish this job!” Natsu hastily agreed. The two boys began to run around the town in a panic, oblivious to the many judging eyes that followed them wherever they walked...er- ran. 

“What are they doing?” A large lady in a silky blue dress asked.

“More like what are they doing here” A short fat man in a large top hat scoffed, rudely pointing a wooden cane in Natsu’s direction. He curled his mustache in disgust.

“We’d better inform the mayor about this, we already have an annoying rat problem” The lady responded. “And what's with that flying cat…?”

Natsu's ears perked up at the word mayor and he stopped his obnoxious rampaging. His head swiftly turned to glare at the two that were previously talking about him.

“Tell me!” Natsu yelled hurriedly. “Where is he? Where's the mayor!?” The couple gasped in shock and disgust. “Get him away” The woman yelled as the man harshly hit Natsu repeatedly with his cane.

“Oww what your deal!” Natsu whined between each wack.

“Natsu! I’ll save you!” Happy cried, trying his hardest to hit the man but the woman kept swatting at him like he was some kind of fly. Chaos ensued as many of the townspeople began to crowd around the area and harshly ridicule the “Lowly outsiders.” Ok, this has gone too far. Natsu grunted as he caught the man’s cane mid-attack. Just as he began to raise a fist-

“What is the meaning of this?” Silence filled the air and everyone stopped in their tracks. The main focus was a girl, no older than Natsu himself who stood in the middle of the chaos. An enticingly puffy pink dress with white ruffles scattered here and there added a type of extra flair to her entrance. Wrapped in silky white gloves, her hands were held out in front of the boys defensively and she sent a harsh glare at any curious onlookers. A select few turned their heads quickly, going back to whatever it is they were doing without seeming too suspicious. Whoever this girl was, she was definitely someone important.

“M-Miss lucy” The man with the cane nervously stopped his violent attacks, placing his weapon back on the ground and straightening his posture. He looked as if he were trying to assert his dominance, flashing the fancy clothing on his chest in front of him like a prize. However, he stayed eerily silent.

“Lucy?” Natsu whispered to himself. Why did that name sound so familiar? 

“If you have nothing to say then please, proceed with your tasks.” She yelled, her tone leaving no room for argument. The snobby man, woman, and whatever was left of the crowd began to disperse as the girl stepped closer to him. Not knowing what to expect, Natsu took a defensive stance, Happy growling beside him. The girl- Liffy? Her eyes widened in surprise and slight recognition before she broke out into a fit of giggles.

“You two are very strange” 

The “strange” boys looked at each other in confusion. “I’m sorry you had to see that- Oh! Where are my manners” bowing, she added “It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Lucy” Natsu watched as she flipped her extremely gorgeous golden hair out of her face.

“Pretty” He mumbled as his eyes followed the hair flowing in the slight breeze. A light blush dusted Lucy's cheeks completely contradicting her previous show of dominance. “P-pardon me?” Natsu snapped out of his temporary daze and studied her face in confusion.

“Your hair” he clarified, pointing to it with a grin. “It’s really pretty, like gold”

He didn't think that it was possible but Loonie’s face turned an even brighter shade of pink. He could even compare the color to Erza’s hair.

She cleared her throat. “You're in search of the mayor right?” Natsu nodded. Luggy smiled gently and faced a building that looked even larger and more elegant than the rest. How did he not notice it until now?

“Well, you're already here. Welcome to the Heartfillia estate”

“Wow!” Happy gawked at the sight before him, slightly drooling. The amount of fish that he could buy with a house that expensive-

“Thanks, Luigi!” Natsu chimed before racing through large marble doors, Happy not so far behind. “IT'S LUCY!!”  
____________________________________________________________________________

The meeting was definitely something else. The pink-haired magic-user and his strange blue cat were disastrous in front of the mayor. Throwing their feet up on the furniture, interrupting him when he was talking, and the small meal that the maids prepared ended up everywhere. They ate like it was the first meal that they’ve had in a long time. Which was obviously not true, anyone could tell from the boy's toned muscles and well-defined abs that he ate plenty. N-not that she was staring or anything! She just noticed because all he wore was a very revealing vest. And it’s not like she was the only one staring! Natsu couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her! But his expression was more suspicious then…lustful. N-not that she had any lustful thoughts or anything!

A-anyway, they finally left and Lucy was able to breathe. Luckily, her father didn’t kick them out of the town like all of the other mages before them. The rats were really becoming an issue. Resources and food were scarce as of now. Even the once sparklingly rich town of Sidus didn’t glow like it used to. 

It was almost night and the strangers- er, Natsu and Happy, had already left to find a hotel to stay at. Lucy felt kind of bad for the woman that ran the only hotel in town, she was in for one heck of a ride. It was strange though. Looking at Natsu, there was an odd sense of familiarity… but she’s never met anyone like him before. 

Lucy sighed again as she sunk further down into her bubble bath. Today had been so stressful, and she couldn't wait for things to get back to normal… Kinda. 

The mayor, her father, had been planning an engagement for her which she was less than ecstatic about. Some weird duke dude from a town called Junelle. Luckily, rats decided to start terrorizing the town the week that they were scheduled to meet. Just gives her some more time to figure out how to escape.  
The last two times ended up with her locked in her room for 2 weeks, guards surrounding the mansion. There were fewer now since the rats appeared. 

At that moment something brushed against her leg. But there was really nothing in the large tub beside her and the bubbles. So- why did the bubbles feel so...furry?

“AHHHH!” Lucy jumped out of the large tub, quickly grabbed her towel, and made a beeline for the door. She cursed at the rodent that was rude enough to interrupt her much needed bath and grumpily stomped her way over to what was supposed to be her empty bed. 

On it, was none other than the source of her bemusement. 

“Yo,” he called. “Your bed’s real comfy, you know that?”

“NATSU!?” The girl shrieked covering herself with one hand and throwing whatever she could find with her other.

“Woah, Woah! Calm down!” the dragon slayer pleaded, swiftly avoiding the flying objects.

“Yeah, Luigi what's your problem” Happy chimed in from beside her.

“CAT!” She shrieked again, but this time a warm hand flew out to cover her mouth. Natsu glared right into her eyes and put a finger up to his mouth. 

“Shhhhh” He pleaded. Lucy glared back but went silent anyways.

“Miss Lucy?” A muffled voice called, followed by a gentle knock. “Is everything all right in there?”

“Y-yes” Lucy replied after slapping Natsu’s hand away. “Just saw another rat”

“Oh. Well please be safe, I’m sure that mage and his cat will solve the problem soon enough.” Lucy heard Natsu cockily snicker from beside her.

“Thank you, I will” She called back as the metal footsteps faded. 

“State your business!” She turned back to the dragon slayer and his cat companion that were currently taking up space on her bed.

“State your business” He coyly replied. Lucy barely managed to suppress an annoyed groan. 

“I live here!” She hissed.

“Why’s the mayor's assistant living in his house?” Natsu asked, tilting his head in genuine confusion. Lucy gawked. Assistant?

“What do you mean assistant?” She asked.

“Well, ya do whatever the old man tells ya to. Isn’t that what an assistant does?” He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. Lucy was at a loss for words. She listened to her father because- because that's what kids are supposed to do! Right…?

“Well- I just...It's not like… T-THAT DOES NOT MATTER!” She spat, throwing her hands on her hips. “Answer my question mage! Why are you here!?”

“Was bored” He shrugged before narrowing his eyes at her. “And why’s everyone in this town smell weird?” 

She ignored him. “If you are so bored, why not spend your time trying to rid our town of those rats!” 

“Already got it covered”

“Aye,” Happy agreed.

Lucy stopped glaring and gaped. There's no way they were done already. This mage wasn't smart enough for that… Was he?

“Really!? You speak the truth?”

“We put a trail of food leading out of the village” A gin spread across his features. “Sooner or later all of em are gonna fall in the hole that me and Happy dug. Then, imma roast em!” He blew out a string of fire from his mouth to emphasize his point.

“F-fire!” Lucy gaped with wide eyes. From the tone of her voice, Natsu had assumed that he’d scared the poor girl off. However, when he turned his gaze to meet hers, the only thing he found in her big round dark eyes was an excited gleam. Natsu loudly gulped before Lucy roughly threw herself on him, questions racing past her lips at the speed of light.

“Where did you learn how to do such a thing? Does it burn your skin? Is there some kind of gas in your throat that allows you to do that? Where else does fire appear on you? Can you control the actual element itself?” She gasped “ARE YOU ACTUALLY A CYBORG-” 

Natsu had stopped paying attention at this point. This girl was weird, seriously weird. No one else in town was quite like her. She stood out like the cheery sunrise on a rainy day. She was golden...and he kind of liked that about her. He looked past the girls' long blond locks to match eyes with Happy, but the sly cat only smirked evilly, pointing a furry paw in the direction of Lucy. Natsu’s expression instantly switched from one of confusion to one that had his furiously blushing face rivaling his own pink hair. 

“-kind of fire! Natsu?” Lucy gazed at the boy with a puzzled expression. He looked like he would simply pop. Had she done something wrong? “What’s the matter with your face? OH! Was I asking too many questions!? I-i’m so sorry I do that sometimes when I get overly excited. I will be silent now...”

“Lucy.” Happy spoke through the wiry silence, sneaking a smug glance at a flustered Natsu.

“Yes?” 

He snickered. “Your erotic.”

Timidly looking down, Lucy was quick to realize that the towel that had previously hidden her “Goods” had fallen to the floor. She was currently standing in the middle of the room, butt naked, in front of a boy and a cat that she had only met a few hours ago. The room was dangerously silent and no one dared to even make a sound. That was until-

“Sooo... I noticed you're naked.” Natsu observed in confusion. “Is that intentional or...”

“AHHHHH!! GET OUUT!”

“Run Natsu! She’s scary!!”  
____________________________________________________________________________

The plan worked out, just as he said it would. The next morning (With Happy's feline assistance) a stampede of disgusting rats flooded the streets towards the town's entrance. Early risers shrieked in horror as they scurried out of cabinets, laundry, and much more. Natsu waited for them to fall into the pit with a grin and promptly burned each rat into ashes. And good riddance too! He was starving and needed a good hefty breakfast. Maybe he could get Lucy to feed them again. Maybe he could convince her...

“C’mon Happy” he called, waving over for his friend to join him on his adventure back into the Mayor's office. Which is what would have happened if he hadn't suddenly ran into a large stone gate. Closed, might he add.

“What the heck?” He murmured. That definitely wasn’t there earlier...maybe. He couldn’t really remember. “HEEYYYY” he yelled loudly. “Lemme back in!”

“Absolutely not!” A townsperson called back from on top of the gate. Wait- from on top!?

“Why!? And how did you get up there?” He asked.

“You're loud!” A different town's person snarled as they made their way to the edge.

“And obnoxious!” Another one spat, following the other in pursuit. 

“Messy too!” came a cranky old voice that he recognized as the lady from the hotel.

“Not my fault your doors weren't fire resistant!” Natsu hollard back.

“None of that really matters anyway.” A strict voice hissed from within the growing crowd. The crowd that has now fallen silent. “Seeing as you didn’t really get rid of them like my flier had asked.

“What are you talking about!?” Happy practically whined. “We literally just burned them right there!” The voice, who Natsu now knew was the mayor, only scoffed in response.

“I see no proof!” The crowd buzzed in agreement. The temperature around grew increasingly hot. What is with this sudden bullcrap!? Natsu did the job, and he deserves the reward.

“Why’s it even matter?” Natsu growled, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I don’t even want back into your prissy, snobby, privileged town! Just give me my well earned job money and I'll BE ON MY WAY!”

“No.”

“You little-”

“FATHER!” A female voice shouted. Natsu scanned the gathering of people for anyone who could be in trouble. Sure, they were assholes, but he was a fairy tail wizard and he does what's right. Obviously, someone had to be in trouble because the Mayor didn’t have a daughter-

“Silence Lucy!” The mayor scolded, eyes glaring at a girl with very recognizable beautiful golden hair. 

Turns out he does have a daughter-

“You are only to speak when spoken to!” Lucy flinched back a bit and shyly looked down at her shoes. The temperature rose once again. “Of course, s-sorry father…”

“Good.” The blond man nodded in acceptance. “This dirty ruffian mage boy and his mangy pet have done nothing but terrorize our town like the rats we sought to get rid of!. This money goes to whoever in this town came up with the brilliant idea of leading the rats out of our town and-”

“What for” Natsu finally spoke. The mayor's startled face turned to a scowl at the dragon slayer but received nothing in return. Natsu’s face was blank and nonchalant, something new and different to be seen on his usually energetic traits. Even Lucy recognized that this seemed unusual and she’d only known him for a day.

“Excuse me?” Jude snarled. Natsu ignored him.

“What are you sorry for Luce?” Said girl blinked down at him mindlessly, a startled blush overtaking her previously dejected features.

“W-what?”

“Do I really gotta ask again?” He said with a grin.

Lucy giggled. It was strange how he managed to smile at even the worst of times. Like a small flame guiding her out of her dark thoughts.“No, I suppose not” a sad look filled her dark chocolate eyes. “I'm sorry… for disobeying m-my father” She admitted. Her face seemed set, but Natsu could tell she was lying.

“As you should be!” Jude cried out, harshly snatching Lucy's wrist. A growl sounded from below. “You are to return home immediately and stay in your room until a maid comes and fetches you for supper. Am I clear!?”

The girl winced in pain at his firm grip and stuttered out a reply. The tone that he had used left no room for reason anyways.

“Of course, I-i’m sorry-” 

“LIKE HELL YOUR SORRY!” Natsu’s voice rang out through the thick air and fire appeared to cover his entire being. The townspeople coward in fear. Shouts of ‘Monster’ and ‘Demon’ echoed around, but Lucy's eyes only showed passion, confusion, and mild amusement.

An outreached hand reached up and practically begged Lucy to take hold of it. “C'mon Lucy” Natsu said, although still covered in fire, with a gentle smile.  
This was it… the opportunity that she had spent so much time scheming and planning for has finally popped up in the form of a flaming idiot and his equally idiotic cat. Now she could get away...From her stupid responsibilities! From this godforsaken loveless town! She could leave- And she wanted to… but she was scared. After being controlled by her father the majority of her 17 years of life, the thought of freedom becomes fleeting. Was he actually willing to...to-  
No. She shook her head in denial. Now is not the time for doubt. She’s waited almost her whole life for this moment, now is not the time to doubt it. Carefully feeling her waist for her late mother’s cherished Keys, a watery smile adorned her determined features.

“Where will we go” She whispered, but somehow she knew that he’d hear. The boy beamed up at her as she ran from her father's grip and abruptly jumped down into his flaming arms. The fire should have been hot. It should have burned her into nothing but ash upon impact. But as Natsu caught her, they held each other's gazes as if no one was shouting Lucy's name, or guards weren't breaking open the large gates with deadly weapons on hand. And Lucy was content. Because in his eyes was a look that she hadn’t been given in a long time. One of hope, one of ambition, one of...love.

“We're going home!” He replied with an even larger grin. And as the guards threw open the gates, Natsu took her hand in his own and the 3 set off into the forest, giggling in triumph.  
____________________________________________________________________________

“So let me get this straight.” Fairy tails very own Master, Makarov said, bags resting underneath his eyes and heavy stacks of paperwork piled up high on his desk. “You got rid of the rats but didn’t receive proper payment so instead of coming back and informing me of the situation, you-” He sighed heavily. “You kidnapped the mayor's daughter!”

Natsu sat stiffly in a chair facing the master and ground his teeth in annoyance. “You're not listening to me, gramps! I already told ya that she was unhappy.I needed to get her out of that place before that mayor dude did something unforgivable!” He huffed. “Plus he deserved it. The guys a di-”

“You took a great risk for some petty disagreement Natsu! You could have been killed-”

“The risk that I took was calculated!”

Makarov scoffed. 

“Gramps, I’m not stupid! I’m just… bad at math...”

“Exactly Natsu! I know that taking this girl, you had the best of intentions. But you can't just foolishly throw yourself into situations like this because there will be consequences!” Natsu said nothing, only looking at the floor, arms crossed in guilt.

“And you!” He scolded pointing at the blue cat in Natsu’s lap. “Why would you let him do that!?”

Happy flinched but looked determinedly in his master's eyes. “Lucy is my friend!” He declared. Makarov’s lips twitch upwards into a small smile. He sighed.

“You're lucky I've cleared this up boys” Their ears perked up in excitement. “Since Lucy technically wanted to come with you and the empire she was a part of is out of their jurisdiction, she’s considered a runaway and the grand magic council has decided to let it slide- thank Mavis! I don't know what I would have done if you were somehow charged for kidnap!”

Natsu chuckled and enthusiastically slammed his hands on the desk. “Thank you so much! I promise this won't ever happen again- imma go see Lucy now bye!”

“Aye!” Cried Happy following in pursuit of his best friend.

Not even a second later, Makarov found his office door slammed shut and what used to be the piles of neatly stacked paper scattered across the wooden floor. 

“I need something to drink” he silently mumbled to himself as he wearily slammed his head down on his desk. That boy was going to be the death of him."

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so this is just a rough draft. A really, really, reaaaally rough draft. I've already begun planning out an actual plot so it's going to look waaay better. Anyway, tell me what you think.


End file.
